Pressure controller



June 1940. L. L. CUNNINGHAM 2,203,523

rnsssuni: comaonma Filed July 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June L. CUNNINGHAM 2,203,523

PRESSURE CONTROLLER Filed July 15, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LeWz'sL. Cwzm'rzghm Patented June 4,1940 a A 3 2,203,523

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRESSURE CONTROLLER Lewis L. Cunningham, Minneapolis, Minn, as-

signor to Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Delaware Application July 15, 1935, Serial No. 31,463

7 Claims. (Cl. 201-48) This invention relates to pressure controllers of the plugs l6 or i! may be removed and a pipe 'in general and more specifically to that type of or conduit leading from some source of pressure controller utilizing an inverted pressure operated either positive or negative may be substituted bell. therefor. The container it is closed by means of An object of this invention is to provide a presa cover plate l8, having a circular opening i9 sure controller of the type described of novel therein. construction and mode of operation whereby ex- Located within the housing it is an inverted tremely accurate control may be obtained. bell 20 which extends downwardly into the liquid Another object of this invention is to provide to divide the container Ill into two chambers, one a pressure controller of the type described for chamber being located within the bell 20 and the 10 operating a current controlling mechanism other chamber being located without the bell 2%. wherein the pressure required to operate the A stud or rod 2! extending into the container mechanism may be adjusted and wherein the 10 through the opening I9 is secured to the bell range or differential of pressures required to com- 26 by nuts 22. The outward end of the stud 2i pletely operate the current controlling mechais secured to a grooved nut 23 and held in place nism may be varied. with respect thereto by means of a lock nut 25. Another object of this invention is to provide a Suitably secured to the grooved nut 23 by means pressure controller of the type described whereof soldering or sweating is an arm or abutment in a mechanism is operated by normal changes in 25, having crimped up portions 26 to form a pressure and whereinl another mechanism is knife-edge on the upper surface thereof. A base operated by abnormal changes in pressure. 28 is suitably secured to the cover plate 18 of the Another object of this invention is to provide a container H) by an integral bracket 29 and screws novel adjusting means for a pressure controller 30. e bracket 9 as a -'t a fi p of the type described. ing adapted to receive a screw-threaded sleeve 3 l,

Still another object of this invention is to proh ving an internal bore of substantially the same vide a novel sealing means for a pressure chamber a eter as t e ope la in the COVBI P t whereby the pressure chamber is fiectively It is notedhere that the openings or bores in the sealed and whereby the friction produced by sealsl ve 3| and th ver plate 18 a r at v ing the same is reduced to a minimum, large with respect to the diameter of the rod or Other objects and advantages will become apstud 2! so that no friction or binding occurs be- 30 parent to thos skilled in the art upon reference tween the rod or stud 2| and the bracket 29 or to the accompanying specification, claims and the cover plate Hi. In this manner, free and easy drawings, in which drawings: movement of the bell 20 is permitted. Loosely Fig. l is an 'elevational view partly in section of mounted on the stud 2| is a collar or sealing the pressure controller of my invention. washer 32, having a beveled or curved portion Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the parts shown at iS a p d o seal; against the Opening n in the upper portion of Fig. 1, and the sleeve 3|. There is a very little clearance be- Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the tween the washer 32 and the stud 2"! so that the mechanism shown in the lower portion of Fig. 2. passage of air between these two elements is neg- Referring 'now to Fig. 1, the pressure controlligible. The weight of the washer 32 is'sulficient ler of my invention is shown to comprise a conto maintain the washer 32 at all times against the tainer or housing 10 partially filled with a liquid, screw-threaded sleeve 3| to effectively seal the such as water. The lower wall of the container Opening betwe the Stud 2 and the screwor housing It is provided with a screw-threaded ea d S e ve 3!- ThiS Sea ethod forms a opening ll and the side walls thereof are provided Salient feature Of this invent o with oppositely spaced screw-threaded openings Located on the upper end of the base 28 is an 12 and 13. The lower screw-threaded opening ll integral lug 34, having an opening adapted to receives a tube ll which extends upwardly into eiv an adjusting kno 35. he j in the container above the level of the liquid conknob 35 is Provided with a de 35 Which tained therein. The screw-threaded opening 1 l e s t e 18 t0 prevent d wnward movealso accommodates a pipe or like conduit I5 merit of the knob 35 with respe 0 $116 11% 34. which may lead to some source of sub-atmos- The knob 35 carries a screw 37 which is rotatably pheric pressure, not shown. The screw-threaded supported at its lower end by a bracket 38 which openings l2 and I3 are shown to be closed by is in turn secured to the base 23 by means of a plugs I6 and I! respectively but, however, either spacer 40 and a screw 4|. Upward movement of the screw 31 with respect to the bracket 38 and the lug 34 is prevented by means of the screw 39 secured to the end of screw 31. The lower end of a plate 42 is clamped between the screw 4| and the spacer 40 and in a like manner, the upper end of the plate 42 is clamped between a spacer 43 and a screw 44, the screw 44 being secured to the base 28. The plate 42 is made adjustable by the elongated slots traversed by the screws 4| and 44. The plate also contains a longitudinal slot 45 and located adjacent this slot 45 is a scale plate 46 which is adjustably mounted on the plate 42 by means of screws 41. A plate 48, having a screw-threaded boss 49 is screwthreaded to the screw 31 so that upon rotation of the screw 31, the plate 48 is moved upwardly or downwardly, rotation of the plate 48 being prevented by the pointer 55 extending through the slot 45. The plate 48 is provided with an opening through which is passed a screw 50 which is in screw-threaded engagement with a grooved nut 5|. The nut 5| is provided with a notched flange 52 and the plate 48 is provided with a downwardly extending arm 54 to engage in the notch of the flange 52 to prevent rotation of the nut 5| with respect to the plate 48 upon rotation of the screw 50. One end of a tension spring 53 is connected to the grooved nut 5| and the other end of the tension spring 53 is connected to the grooved nut 23. The spring performs the function of suspending the bell 28 within the container I0 and by adjusting the tension in the spring 53, the pressure in the chamber |0 required to move the bell 20 is varied. The pointer 55, which extends through the longitudinal opening 45 in the plate 42, cooperates with the scale plate 48 to indicate the pressure required to move the bell 20 and indirectly the amount of tension within the spring 53. The screw 59 provides a means for factory calibration of the spring 53, and the screw 31 provides means for adjusting the instrument after it is installed.

One end of a link 56 is connected as by means of a screw 51 to the abutment or arm 25. The other end of the link 56 is connected by means of a screw 58 to one arm of a bell crank lever 59. The mid portion of bell crank lever 59 is bent over in the form of a U as at 60 to providean adequate bearing for the bell crank lever 59 upon a pivoted pin 6| suitably secured to the base 28. A spring arm 63 is suitably secured to and insulated from the other arm 62 of the bell crank lever 59 by means of screws 64. The spring arm 63 carries a slider 65 Which is adapted to slide across a resistance coil 66 wound upon a spool 61. The spool 61 is suitably secured to a bracket 68 which is adjustably mounted on the base 28 by means of screws 69. The slider 65 and the resistance coil 66 may perform a control function in a manner which is well known in the art.

Suitably secured to one arm of the bell crank lever 59 as by means of a pivot pin 12 is a grooved abutment collar 1|. Secured to this grooved abutment collar H is a tension spring 13. A bracket 14 is secured to the base 28 by means of screws and secured to the bracket 14 by means of a nut 11 is a screw '!6 which extends upwardly within the spring 13 in a coaxial manher. The pitch of the screw 16- is the same as the pitch of the spring 13 and mounted on the screw 16 and cooperating with the spring 13 is a range adjusting nut 18. Suitable stops 19 and are adjustably secured to the base on either side of the bell crank lever 59 by means of screws BI and 82.

The details of the range adjusting spring assembly including the spring 13, the screw I6. and the range adjusting nut 18 are described in detail in my copending application S. N. 752,481, filed November 10, 1934, now Patent Number 2,041,050. It is sufiicient to state therefore in this application that movement of the range adjusting nut 18 upwardly and downwardly does not vary the tension within the spring 13 but only varies the effective length of the same. is preferable in this form of invention to so adjust the range adjusting spring assembly that when the bell crank lever 59 is midway between the two stops l9 and 8!], zero tension is present within the spring 13 so that when the bell crank lever 59 is moved in .either direction from this mid position an added resistance is placed thereon to retard movement in either direction thereby controlling the pressure differential required to move the slider a given distance on either side of the mid position.

With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1, a decrease in pressure underneath the bell 20 and/or an increase in pressure above the bell 28 causes downward movement of stud 2| and consequent clockwise rotation of the bell crank lever 59 about its pivot 6|. The pressure required to move the bell 28 downwardly is adjusted by varying the tension in the spring 53 by rotation of the knob 35. Downward movement of the bell 20 in this manner starts lefthand movement of slider 65 with respect to the coil 66 and this lefthand movement is then impeded by the effort of the spring 13 being placed in compression. When the adjusting nut 18 is in a lowered position so that the effective length of the spring i3 is greater than in the position shown in the drawings, less retarding efiort is afiorded by the spring 13 and consequently a lesser difierential of pressure or range of pressure is required to move the slider 65 from its mid position as shown to its extreme left-hand position. Movement of the slider 65 from its mid position to its right hand position is accomplished in exactly the same manner as pointed out above except that this movement is caused by the changing of pressures within the container [0 in an opposite direction. Here again,

the range adjusting spring 13 impedes the right hand movement of slider 65 by being placed in tension and when the efifective length of spring 13 is greater than that shown in the drawings, the amount of retarding eifort of spring 13 is decreased.

From the above, it is seen that I have provided a current controlling mechanism which may take the form of a resistance coil and a slider which is operated by a pressure responsive device such as an inverted hell with adjusting means whereby the pressure required to operate the current controlling means may be varied and wherein the range or differential of pressures required to operate the current controlling a given amountmay be varied.

Located adjacent the arm or abutment 25 is a lever pivoted on a pin 86 which is secured to the bracket 81 adjustably mounted on the base 28 by means of screws 89. The lever 85 is spaced with respect to the base 28 by means of a spacer 88 mounted on the pivot pin 86. The lever 85 carries a mercury switch clip 90 in which is mounted a mercury switch 9| of usual design. One end of the lever 85 is provided with an em mechanism chor 92 to which is secured one end of a spring 93. The other end of the spring 93 is secured to a grooved nut 94 which is screw-threaded on a screw 95 having a knurled head 96. The screw 95 extends through an opening in the plate 18 and the head 96 thereof abuts against the plate 48. The spring 93 therefore urges the lever 35 in a counter-clockwise direction and this counter-clockwise movement of the lever 85 is limited by a stop 91 adjustably mounted on the base 28 by means of a. screw 98. The mercury switch 9| may be secured in the clip 90 in any suitable manner so that with the switch in the position shown in the drawings, it may be in either circuit making or circuit breaking position depending upon the function which it is desired that the switch shall perform.

Upward movement of the bell 20 in the manner described above will cause the knife-edge 26 of the arm or abutment 25 to engage the lever 85 to move the same away from its stop 91 in a clockwise direction against the tension of spring 93. Such clockwise movement of the lever 85 causes either circuit making or circuit breaking operation of the mercury switch 9! depending upon the manner in which the mercury switch 9| is secured in the clip 99. It is noted at this point that a lost motion exists between the abutment or arm 25 and the pivoted lever 85 so that a substantial movement of the bell 20 is permitted before the lever t5 is engaged by the abutment 25. The amount of lost motion between these two elements may be adjusted by adjusting the stop 91 so that practically any sequence of operation may be obtained. The amount of tension in the spring 93 is adjusted by the knob 35 in exactly the same manner in which the tension in the spring 53 is adjusted. For calibration purposes, the springs 53 and 93 are made independently adjustable in the manner pointed out above.

The base 28 is provided with lugs 99 adapted to receive screws I00 for securing a cover, not shown, in place to enclose the movable parts of the mechanism.

From the above it is seen that I have provided a pressure controller of novel construction, having means for adjusting the pressure at which said controller shall operate and the range or differential of pressures required to operate the controller, a second current controlling mechanism operated by the controller when the controller has been moved to a given position, and a sealing means which forms an effective seal without causing any undue friction to take place.

Although I have disclosed one form-of my invention, various modifications thereof may become apparent to those skilled in the art and consequently this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims in the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, an enclosed housing, an inverted bell in said housing, a rod carrying said bell and extending through said housing, sealing means for said rod, means for varying the pressure within said housing for moving said bell, a-support mounted on said housing exteriorly thereof, a resistance carried by said support, a lever pivoted on said support and having a slider engaging said resistance, a link connecting said rod and said lever to move said slider with respect to said resistance upon movement of said bell, a spring connected at one end to said rod for urging said bell in one direction, adjusting means for said spring including a member secured to the other end of said spring and an adjusting screw for moving said member to vary the tension in said spring whereby the pressure required to move said slider may be varied, a range adjusting spring assembly including a spring secured to said lever, a screw secured to said support and a nut engaging said spring and said screw for varying the eifective length of said spring whereby the range of pressures required to move the slider a given distance with respect to said resistance may be varied, a lever pivoted to said support adjacent said rod, an adjustable spring urging said lever in one direction, a stop for limiting movement of said lever, a switching mechanism carried by said lever, and an abutment carried by said rod to engage said lever to operate said switching mechanism.

2. In a device of the class described, an enclosed housing, an inverted bell in said housing, a rod carrying said bell and extending through said housing, sealing means for said rod, means for varying the pressure within said housing for moving said bell, a support mounted on said housing exteriorly thereof, a resistance carried by said support, a lever pivoted on said support and having a slider engaging said resistance, a link connecting said rod and said lever to move said slider with respect to said resistance upon movement of said bell, a spring connected at one end to said rod for urging said bell in one direction, adjusting means for said spring including a member secured to the other end of said spring and an adjusting screw for moving said member to vary the tension in said spring whereby the pressure required to move said slider may be varied, a lever pivoted to said support adjacent said rod, an adjustable spring urging said lever in one direction, a stop for limiting movement of said lever, a switching mechanism carried by said lever, and an abutment carried by said rod to engage said lever to operate said switching mechanism.

3. In a device of the class described, an enclosed housing, an inverted bell in said housing, a rod carrying said bell and extending through said housing, means 'for varying the pressure within said housing for moving said bell, a support mounted on said housing exteriorly thereof, a resistance carried by said support, a lever pivoted on said support and having a slider engaging said resistance, a link connecting said rod and said lever to move said slider with respect to said resistance upon movement of said bellD a spring connected at one end to said rod for urging said bell in one direction, adjusting means for said spring including a member secured to the other end of said spring and an adjusting screw for moving said member to vary the tension in said spring whereby the pressure required to move said slider' may be varied, a range adjusting spring assembly including a spring secured to said lever, a screw secured to said support and a nut engaging said spring and said screw for varying the effective length of said spring whereby the range of pressures required to move the slider a given distance with respect to said resistance may be varied, a lever pivoted to said support adjacent said rod, an adjustable spring urging said lever in one direction, a stop for limiting movement of said lever, a switchin mechanism carried by said lever, and an abutment carried by said rod to engage said lever to operate said switching mechanism.

4. In a device of the class described, an enclosed housing, an inverted bell in said housing,

a rod carrying said bell and extending through said housing, means for varying the pressure within said housing for moving said bell, a support mounted on said housing exteriorly thereof, a resistance carried by said support, a lever pivoted on said support and having a slider engaging said resistance, a link connecting said rod and said lever to move said slider with respect to said resistance upon movement of said bell; a spring connected at one end to said rod for urging said bell in one direction, adjusting means for said spring including a member secured to the other end of said spring and an adjusting screw for moving said member to vary the tension in said spring whereby the pressure required to move said slider may be varied, a lever pivoted to said support adjacent said rod, an adjustable spring urging said lever in one direction, a stop for limiting movement of said lever, a switching mechanism carried by said lever, and an abutment carried by said rod to engage said lever to operate said switching mechanism.

5. In a device of the class described, a chamber, an inverted bell in said chamber movable in response to changes of pressure in said chamber,

spring means for supporting said bell in said chamber, current controlling means operatively associated with said bell to be operated by movement of said bell, means for adjusting said spring means to vary the pressure required to operate said current controlling means, and a second current controlling means operatively associated with said bell to be operated thereby upon movement of said bell to a given position.

6. In a device of the class described, a pressure responsive device, spring means urging said device in one direction, a pivoted lever, an abutment, spring means urging said lever against said abutment, control mechanism operated by said lever, and means operated by said pressure responsive device to move said lever away from said abutment and a single adjusting means for both spring means.

7. In a device of the class described, a pivoted lever, a switch operated by said lever, a spring for urging said lever against an abutment, a pressure responsive device for rotating said lever against the action of said spring, a main adjusting spring for said pressure responsive device, and a single means for simultaneously adjusting both springs, a resistance element, a slider engaging said resistance, and means operated by said pressure responsive device independently of said lever for moving said slider across the resistance.

LEWIS L. CUNNINGHAM. 

